Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Me on Seven Tears at High Tide

Kevin Luong walks to the ocean's edge with a broken heart. Remembering a legend his mother told him, he lets seven tears fall into the sea. "I just want one summer—one summer to be happy and in love." Instead, he finds himself saving a mysterious boy from the Pacific—a boy who later shows up on his doorstep professing his love. What he doesn't know is that Morgan is a selkie, drawn to answer Kevin's wish. As they grow close, Morgan is caught between the dangers of the human world and his legacy in the selkie community to which he must return at summer's end.

Seven Tears at High Tide is sweet and heartfelt, a story about young love and secrets, about wishes. About the possible and the impossible.

Kevin is a smart young man. A wounded young man. Recently cast aside by someone he thought was his friend, was his boyfriend. His family is supportive and loving, they'd do anything for him and vice versa, but that's not what he's looking for right now. He wants to be loved in a romantic way, in a way that doesn't make him a secret to be tucked away in the shadows. He wants someone he can be happy with, someone he can watch movies and go rock hunting with. With Morgan he finds this happiness, he's expressive and excited. He doesn't know what secrets Morgan is hiding.

Morgan is kind and thoughtful, maybe a little naïve (maybe a lot). But how could he not be? He's a selkie, a creature who lives in the sea, travels across the sea with his family group, and so rarely has the chance to change into his human form. Kevin's Request is something the family group takes seriously, as so few Requests are made, and Morgan is the one who will fulfill it. How could he not love Kevin and his pure heart? But he's still a selkie, and Kevin's Request was only meant for the summer. What will he do when the summer ends?

There's a sweetness and a sadness to this book. A sweetness that sings in Kevin and Morgan, in their joy and awkwardness as they laugh and learn during their summer together. As Morgan learns all about the wonder that is fried food. A sadness that nudges at the edges, reminding them that summers end, that their time will end. I rather enjoyed this story about love, time, and wanting.